Autumn is near and there’s plenty to celebrate…!

Hooray! Living Your Yoga is now 3 years old! What started with a small group of women practising Yoga with me, in my friend Jane’s kitchen, has now expanded to 7 regular yoga classes a week, monthly Pre & Post Natal Events along with regular Well-Woman Events in both Kenilworth & Stratford-Upon-Avon. Practices taught include Hatha Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, Well-Woman Yoga Therapy, Pre-Natal and Post-Natal Yoga. Along with these classes, Living Your Yoga provides 1:1’s in both Kenilworth, Stratford-Upon-Avon and Online; weekly Zoom classes for the brilliant staff at Newson Health Clinic; and regular events and corporate classes in and around the community. LYY has also collaborated with other fantastic teachers to raise money for The Menopause Charity.

Another branch to Living Your Yoga is slowly growing as I continue my development and training as a Yoga Therapist. I look forward to sharing more information about this branch of my work in the coming months.

As you read this, I’d love to know in 3 words what 3 things you love about your yoga practice. Do share on my latest Living Your Yoga post on either Instagram or Facebook. I’d love to know what helps you maintain your practice, what keeps you going back to class for more?!

Autumn Term Schedule

Monday 9.30-11am Well-Woman Yoga at The Tennis & Squash Club, Crackley Lane, Kenilworth. (ONLINE & FACE TO FACE)

Monday 12.15-1.30pm Well-Woman Yoga at Welford & Weston Memorial Hall, Stratford-Upon-Avon, CV37 8EF (FACE TO FACE)

Tuesday 8-9.30pm Mixed Ability Yoga at the Kenilworth Centre, Abbey End, Kenilworth

(ONLINE & FACE TO FACE)

Wednesday 7-8.30pm Mixed Ability Yoga at the Kenilworth Centre, Abbey End, Kenilworth

(ONLINE & FACE TO FACE)

Friday 11-12.30 Well-Woman Yoga at The Tennis & Squash Club, Crackley Lane, Kenilworth.

(ONLINE & FACE TO FACE)

Friday 1-2.30pm Mixed Ability Yoga at The Tennis & Squash Club, Crackley Lane, Kenilworth.

(ONLINE & FACE TO FACE)

Saturday 7.30-9am Ashtanga Yoga at The Tennis & Squash Club, Crackley Lane, Kenilworth.

(ONLINE & FACE TO FACE)

Saturday 24th October 2-4.30pm Pre & Post Natal Monthly Session at Leek Wootton Village Hall, Warwick Road, CV35 7RB.

(FACE TO FACE)

Book online or contact me directly info@livingyouryoga.co.uk

Muddy Stiletto’s Award Winner!

Another huge thank you to all of you in voting for Living Your Yoga as the best Yoga & Pilates Studio in Warwickshire! This week I went along to the Muddy Stilettos’s awards ceremony at Mallory Court Country House Hotel & Spa in Leamington, where I was awarded with my certificate, and also fortunate to meet the organisers and some of the other winners too. This was a great occasion and really uplifting after what has been a tough 18 months or so for so many of us. Receiving this helped me further realise that my little Yoga business is having a positive effect on the community - which is the whole purpose of it’s service. I’ll keep doing my best.

Thank you again! 

Kenilworth Arts Festival

This weekend, from Friday 17th - Sunday 19th sees the return of Kenilworth Arts Festival.

The weekend includes, Music, Dance, Literature, with a focus on Storytelling, Sustainability and Wellness. 

Living Your Yoga has been asked to run a class at this wonderful event. Come along and join me in an outdoor Yoga session this Sunday 3.30-4.30pm (there will be a covered area should it rain) Head to the link for further details and to book your space. Places are limited. Hope to see you there!

https://www.kenilworthartsfestival.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Kenilworth-Arts-Festival-Programme-2021.pdf

Congratulations!!

During August, three amazing women who attended pre natal yoga classes with me, both online and face to face, gave birth to 3 beautiful baby girls! I’m over the moon to be able to share such wonderful news and gorgeous photo’s! Sending you all so much love from Living Your Yoga x x x

Welcome to the world Dolly, born 8/8/21! Congratulations to parents Emma and Dan, and big brothers Freddie and Ronnie Upton.

Welcome to the world Lilian Ruby, born 11/8/21! Congratulations Mummy Nicola and big sister Arianna De Maine.

Welcome to the world Asees, born 17/8/21! Congratulation to parents Kirpa Kaur Gill & Ash Singh Gill.

New Book by Dr Louise Newson: Preparing for the Peri-Menopause and Menopause 

The fabulous Dr Louise Newson has written another brilliant book which has gone straight to Number 1 in the Sunday Times non-fiction best seller list! Half of the population will at some point experience the menopause…everybody will know someone that is either peri-menopausal, menopausal or post-menopausal. There are so many symptoms that are experienced during this transformative stage in a woman’s life - it’s worth everyone knowing about it in order to best support the women you love in your life! This book is a penguin paperback and such an easy, informative and brilliant read. I recommend it on the bookshelf in every family home.

Louise is dedicated yoga practitioner and promotes the practice of yoga in the book…she also gives a little mention of Living Your Yoga alongside some other brilliant health and well-being resources :) Thanks Louise!

You can buy her book in all good bookshops and online.

I hope that you’re all gently finding your rhythm as we move into a new term and transition into a new season. Autumn always feels like a time of great change, for some it’s new schools, universities, jobs and relationships…all of these things happen when we let go of something, maybe a situation or a part of ourselves, to make space for something new. Just like in nature as the trees let go of the leaves…I hope whatever changes are occurring, whatever you’re having to let go of to make space for the new, may you let go with softness and ease, and embrace change with joy and an open-heart.

Take lots of care and I hope to see you soon.

Much Love,

Lucy xx

“Life is a balance of holding on and letting go” Rumi.

Award Winning Yoga...and taking some time to rest.

A huge thank you for all of your support and votes in this years Muddy Stiletto’s Awards.

Thanks to you, Living Your Yoga has been voted Best Yoga/Pilates Studio in Warwickshire!

Thank you so much for your continual support in my little yoga business - I’m really grateful and have been very excited in receiving this award (not to mention very surprised) !

I love sharing Yoga with anyone that’s interested in the practice. All of your support and commitment to our classes encourages me to research and study further to bring more informed practices into your lives. I believe that there’s a practice out there for everyone to enjoy, to help bring balance, strength and stability for healthier and happier lives.

Thank you again!

Summer…

There will not be any classes for the next two weeks as I’m going to take some time off to gallivant with my family, spend some time with friends and take some time for myself in order to be ready to bounce back for the Summer classes and Autumn Term. I won’t be on social media either, so if you have any class enquiries, please email: info@livingyouryoga.co.uk

Summer Classes are still available to book, the limited schedule is:

Mixed Ability Classes 7-8.30pm at The Kenilworth Centre:

Wednesday’s: 18th August; 25th August; 1st September (£30 x3 classes)

Well-Woman Classes 12-1.30pm at The Kenilworth Centre:

Friday’s: 20th August; 27th August; 3rd September (£30 x3classes)

Please email me to book your space.

£10 to drop into a class.

Outdoor Classes will be ad-hoc throughout the Summer - weather depending. If you’d like to be added to the What’s App Outdoor Yoga Group, please message me. The messages are purely to inform when a class will take place.

Autumn Term

Autumn Term Classes are now available to book online via my website. Times, dates, venues, face-to -face & online options are included in all of the details of the Book Classes page.

Classes include: Well-Woman Yoga, Mixed Ability Yoga; Ashtanga Yoga & Pre Natal Yoga.

I’m also available for 1:1 bookings - please email me for more information/to arrange a session.

Health Information Forms are available on the Class Information pages. Please complete one of these and bring it to class/or email.

Yoga Nidra’s and some short classes are available to buy & download from the Book Classes page.

That’s all for now, I thought I’d keep this blog little…for those of you that need to take some time out or laying low, I hope you enjoy the beautiful Mary Oliver poem below.

Stay well, take care and see you soon.

Much Love, Lucy xx

Today - Mary Oliver

Today I’m flying low and I’m

not saying a word.

I’m letting all the voodoos of ambition sleep.

The world goes on as it must,

the bees in the garden rumbling a little,

the fish leaping, the gnats getting eaten.

And so forth.

But I’m taking the day off.

Quiet as a feather.

I hardly move though really I’m travelling

a terrific distance.

Stillness. One of the doors

into the temple.

Happy International Yoga Day!

International Yoga Day and Summer Solstice (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere) fall on the same day and has only been celebrated since 2015. It’s quite a good idea as I guess it means we get to stay up late and do more yoga ;) 

On a serious note, it’s a good day to highlight what yoga is and can be to each of us individually. For many in the West, or at least in the early days of discovering a yoga practice, it can appear to be a physical exercise that can help you to feel pretty great, both physically and mentally, and also be fun & playful (see pic!). But over time, when the practice starts to settle in, it can take a greater affect. Yoga can become a way of life; a practice that encourages greater awareness, mindful movement and thinking, both to the self and to others, and a sense of oneness with the world and nature itself. Senses can become heightened, insight and intuition stronger, along with healthier and more beneficial ways of living continue to prevail. I guess this is a good reason to celebrate a practice that can really help such transformations of the self to occur! 

There are numerous forms that take the shape of a yoga practice, from asana (your physical practice); meditation (a practice to help become aware of thoughts/settle the mind/enhance focus…to name a few);  become more present in your day to day actions ( even cleaning the kitchen sink!); be of service (helping/supporting others without anticipating return); or maybe enquiring into the deeper side of the self, observing what is happening beyond your daily actions, thoughts and words. Often a Yoga Nidra can give a great insight into this side of the self…either that or a very good sleep!

However you celebrate your Yoga practice today - may it uplift and bring brightness to you in every sense of your being :)

Congratulations

A very special congratulations to Fay and Roy Bowden on the arrival of beautiful baby girl Emilia Hope. Emilia was so excited to meet her parents that she arrived a little early to the party on 7th April 4.07pm weighing a mighty 3lbs. This amazing little girl was very well looked after and blossomed - she has now been home for a month.

Fay attended pre natal yoga classes online with me at the beginning of the year. Lots of love to you and your family !

Pre Natal Monthly Sessions

Next month see’s the arrival of new monthly extended Pre Natal Yoga Classes. They will include Asana (posture practice) to help best support the changing body throughout pregnancy, support posture, help relieve ailments, and prepare for labour; Breathing Practices to help settle emotional fluctuations/relieve stress/anxiety/help soothe and also prepare for labour; meditations to help settle the mind; mudra’s to help focus and intention; Yoga Nidra to guide into a deeper state of meditation and enhance one’s own insight into the self.

These sessions will be 2 hours and as well as a practice, there will be handouts to take home and practice and also time for a quick tea break to connect with other mums-to-be.

These sessions are face-to-face only.

The first session is on Saturday 17th July 2.30-4.30pm at Leek Wootton Village Hall. 

Sessions are £25. 

Spaces are restricted due to Covid.

For more information or to book contact: info@livingyouryoga.co.uk

Muddy Stilettos Award

I’m really grateful that numerous people had nominated Living Your Yoga for the Muddy Stilettos Award. If you would like to nominate, just click the link below, provide your email and then you’ll receive a link to nominate your favourite businesses in numerous categories throughout Warwickshire (and further afield depending on where you live). It’s great as it’s all for independent businesses! To all of those that nominate Living Your Yoga - a huge thank you! Fingers crossed!

https://warks.muddystilettos.co.uk/nominate/

Yoga Nidra (and other downloads)

I have now released my latest Yoga Nidra which is now available to buy via my website on the Book Classes section. It is called Yoga Nidra For inner Peace. I hope that you like it.

All downloads are now available to buy on the Book Classes page - all logo’s for downloads have a black and white dandelion and are titled. I decided to put the 30 minute classes that I recorded throughout lockdown last year back on sale, in case anyone wanted a top up class. They are hatha yoga practices with recognisable postures & practices for those that regularly attend my classes.

Do have a browse. If you have any questions, do contact me.

That’s all for now - thanks for reading until the end if you got this far!

The next blog will see the Summer Schedule, upcoming events and other news…

Looking forward to seeing you all on the mat.

Much Love,

Lucy xx

Planting Seeds

Welcome to my first ever blog :) I was advised that this would be a better way to connect with everyone rather than sending out newsletters so here we are. My intention is that here you’ll find out schedule updates, yoga news, events, things to look forward to, recipes, poems, doodles, music, hints and tips, introductions to other holistic practices, teachers, wisdom-wonderer’s and of course, yoga practices that may be of interest… it’ll remain community-minded and will hopefully be of interest and inspire you.

As you may have noticed I’ve got a thing for dandelions at the moment! They’ve become the new logo for Living Your Yoga. My little boy inspired me on this. Every morning when we walk to school, he picks up a dandelion, blows on it and  makes a wish… the dandelion completely transforms in its appearance and its seeds blow around, lands gently and they plant themselves to grow again. As we all know, the dandelion has three phases, the yellow flower, the white puff ball, and the dispersing seeds. This got me thinking about Yoga and how a regular yoga practice transforms our appearance (inside and out) and how we often plant our intentions or sankalpa  (our seeds) at the beginning or end of our practice. In fairness, it doesn't take a yoga practice to set our thoughts, intentions or wishes every day. We all actually do it all of the time…sometimes without realising. Our thoughts become our intentions and our intentions become our reality. You’ve probably heard this and are aware of it. But it’s one of those things that we bring our attention to in a yoga practice. Something we’re invited to tend to with a clear mind, maybe after a short breathing practice or meditation when we’ve acknowledged the mind-monkeys, had a bit of a mental clear out and begin to acknowledge what sits behind. We start to look at what it is we’re really seeking? What seeds are we planting? And for who’s benefit?

I realise we’re getting quite deep for a first blog…so I’ll pause there for a moment and bring us back to the every day. Let’s talk about a cake!

Seriously. I made a cake last week (2 actually) and it’s been loved by so many that I’m going to share the recipe with you. I’m not a great cook - I burn most things, but I made this and it worked. Even the children like it (and it has beetroot in it!)

The recipe is from “Self- Care for the Real World” by Nadia Narain & Katia Narain Phillips (I can really recommend this book too - its lovely)

Beetroot Chocolate Cake 

200g Butter 

200g Dark Chocolate (70% cocoa, broken into chunks)

250g cooked vacuum packed beetroots (no vinegar)

5 eggs

250g light muscovado sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

240g ground almonds

Pinch of salt

Rose petals (optional)

• Pre heat oven 190 C/Gas Mark 5, line 20cm cake tin with baking parchment

• Melt chocolate & butter in glass bowl over low heat. Leave to cool once melted.

• Blitz beetroots in food processor.

• Add eggs, sugar, baking powder & vanilla to beetroot.

• Add cooled butter & choc mixture. Pulse until mixed altogether.

• Add ground almonds and salt. Pulse to combine altogether.

• Pour batter into cake tin and bake for 35-45 minutes (the cake won’t wobble when you take it out of the oven if it’s cooked)

• Sprinkle optional rose petals.

• Enjoy!

Back to Yoga…

There’s a couple of face to face spaces available in Monday morning Well-Woman; Tuesday evening’s Mixed Ability & Saturday morning’s Ashtanga Yoga. There’s an abundance of online availability too for these classes. For face to face classes, you’ll need to bring your own mat and any props that you have. A block or a blanket would be useful for every class. I have some bricks and eye bags for sale. Should you wish to purchase any, email me directly.

Do contact me for more information about classes or click link below to save your spot.

https://www.livingyouryoga.co.uk/classes

Yoga Nidra

With support from my best friend Katharina Weithaler, and her amazing creation of a the best wardrobe recording studio,, I’ve recorded a new Yoga Nidra for both men & women. The theme for this recording is inner peace and includes visualisations inspired by nature. The practice is 18 minutes long. 

It’s £8 to buy for you to download to keep.

Let me know if you would like to purchase a download by emailing me. Alternatively, you’ll be able to purchase a download when my To Buy page is created on the website.

Collaboration

I’ve been planting my own seeds lately in making plans to collaborate with some amazing & unique individuals. There’s several exciting projects in the pipeline for the coming months (and years!) that are keeping me excited, uplifted and inspired. I’ll keep you updated as and when the dreams come into reality :) 

This week I’d like to shine a light on my dear friend and colleague Dr Louise Newson of Newson Health Menopause & Wellbeing Centre, Stratford-Upon-Avon. I teach 1:1 yoga here in the studio, practice Ashtanga Yoga regularly with Louise, and also teach a weekly yoga class for the staff, provided through Newson Health. It’s only been a few years since Newson Health was launched, and it is now the largest menopause clinic in the world. Since then the clinic has expanded, influenced and most importantly helped thousands of women all over the country. Newson Health’s Balance App is now helping women worldwide, with over 200,000 downloads to date. The Menopause Charity, which Dr Louise Newson also founded, offers programmes in Menopause care, informing medical healthcare professionals with accurate & updated facts, information, medical advice and support for women.

Please click on the link below to listen to a Newson Health’s 100th podcast, a truly inspiring conversation between Dr Louise Newson & Dr Rebecca Lewis (Clinical director of Newson Health) on how far they’ve come in their menopause mission to help women all over the world.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/my-menopause-doctor-dr-louise-newson-newson-health/id1459614845

For more information on Menopause care, download the Balance App for free, or head to www.newsonhealth.co.uk for more information.

Thank you’s

Thank you to everyone that has kindly written reviews for Living Your Yoga, either on the website or on google. Thank you for your continued choice to share your yoga journey with me.

Thank you to Leigh at www.createonsight.co.uk for developing my brilliant website in a short amount of time, especially having been given some of my very eclectic interests and design preferences!

A really big hug & thank you to my cousin Sinead who has been my photographer for all of my photo shoots for Living Your Yoga.

Finally a big thank you to Jon at Mind Riot Productions for creating mini-animations and encouraging me (and continually reminding me) to keep posting on social media!

Looking forward to seeing you or connecting soon.

Much Love,

Lucy x

“When I was five years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”

– John Lennon

Videos to help women learn more about, and better manage the menopause

Newson Health doctors and invited experts marked World Menopause Day by filming a range of discussions and demonstrations to help women better understand and manage the challenges of the menopause, and the effect it can have on health and wellbeing.

As Newson Health's resident yoga practitioner, I was invited to present an interactive demonstration of my Well-Woman Yoga class to help women understand the holistic benefits of yoga and its beneficial effect during the perimenopause and menopause.

Along with Dr. Sarah Ball and yoga enthusiast Sarah Baker, we talked about the value of yoga. I describe the different types of yoga, why breathing is so important, the improvements to your physical and emotional wellbeing and how it’s best to choose the right type of yoga for your needs and symptoms. You can watch the On-Demand discussion by clicking the button below.

“I have been joining Lucy via Zoom for Well-Woman Classes and Mixed Ability Classes this year. I am so delighted to be able to do this, they help so much, and I usually wouldn’t be able to attend her classes as I live an hours drive from Kenilworth.

Over the past 30 years I have done all sorts of different yoga and suddenly found when I hit my 50’s that I cannot imagine doing what I used to as my body has taken off on its own journey.

My biggest challenge seems to be arthritic pain in my hands, the hand stretches that we do in the Well Woman class really helps with this.

Last summer my son found it hilarious that I could not do more than about six jumps on the trampoline but seven months later I can run further, sneeze without fear and my husband and I both enjoy the benefits of the bandha exercises. The practice itself is gentle and works in a very subtle way that is so effective at a much deeper level. I had been told there was little that could be done about the pelvic floor but I am amazed at how quickly I am now able to connect with myself thanks to these classes.”

— Nicki, Buckinghamshire